Ravens vs Rams Prediction: Back the home side to roll

The 6-6 Los Angeles Rams make the long-journey across the country to take on the 9-3 Baltimore Ravens in the early window game on Sky Sports this Sunday.

@NFLGirlUK is here with her match preview and we pick out a couple of bets on the match that are worth considering...

We might have a surprisingly close game on our hands between the Los Angeles Rams and the Baltimore Ravens. The Rams were thought to be forgotten about at the beginning of the season, and yet they have won three straight games and currently reside in second place over in the NFC West division. Meanwhile, the Ravens are battling for first place in the AFC conference altogether with a 9-3 record, while blowing out some of the best teams in the process.

Starting with the Rams, they rely heavily on their ground attack to get them victories. In fact, it’s the reason that they’ve won three in a row. Since they’ve gotten Kyren Williams back from his injury, their offense has improved. They’ve scored 36 points and 37 points in back-to-back weeks.

The latter was against an awfully talented Cleveland Browns defense as well. Of course, it helps when you have Matthew Stafford healthy and throwing the football over to Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua.

Regardless, the defense in Los Angeles could be a cause for concern. The last two offenses that they’ve played weren’t very good. We saw them face the Dallas Cowboys a couple of weeks ago and they surrendered 43 points in a blowout loss. This matchup with Baltimore will cause them some problems, here’s to hoping they can rise to the challenge.

Over in Baltimore, there’s less to worry about. This offense is tearing through great teams. They dominated the Detroit Lions by a score of 38-6 and then the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 37-3. The reason that they’ve decimated these teams is due to their run game and improved passing game. They can run the ball so effectively that they will always remain in control of the clock.

On top of that, the addition of Zay Flowers and Odell Beckham has transformed what Lamar Jackson can do through the air. Oh, and we can’t forget that the Ravens defense is relentless when it comes to rushing the passer, causing problems for just about every team in the league. When you have that excellent of a pass rush, it makes everybody else’s jobs a whole lot easier on that side of the ball.

Looking at this game overall, I can confidently roll with the Ravens. Baltimore should be able to tear through the Rams defense and control the clock long enough to win this game. Their defense should also not have much of an issue with their pass rush, and if Stafford gets rushed, their offense gets out of sync.

It forces them to move away from the ground attack as well, something that the Rams can’t afford to do. It’s a difficult matchup for Los Angeles, and they're a talented team, but this group isn’t ready to take on the best of the best in the NFL. Baltimore will take over from the start and they won’t look back, just like how they beat Detroit and Seattle.

Match Odds:

Baltimore are heavy favourites for this inter-conference game as despite the Rams being on a three-game winning streak, they are up against one of the genuine Super Bowl contenders on Sunday evening (UK time). You can back the Ravens at just 2/7 to come away with the win and Betfred are 14/5 for the Rams victory.

The handicap has been set at 7.5pts, meaning the traders have the home side as a Touchdown and the hook favourites. A relatively low-scoring game could be on the cards with the total points line set at 40.5.

Bet 1 - Baltimore Ravens -7.5 on the Handciap @ 10/11

That three-game winning streak for the Rams isn't worrying me one jot and Baltimore get off to a fast start and they just don't look back.

Plenty of pressure will be in the face of Matthew Stafford and he's good for an error to two to give the Ravens a short field.

What has impressed me about the home side is that Lamar Jackson seems to be doing just enough with his legs but relying on his arm more and that is keeping the opposition D guessing and when defenses are not going at full-pace, that is when they get burned.

Bet 2 - Baltimore Ravens to Score a Touchdown in the 1Q - Evens

Doubling down on my thoughts that the home side start fast and I like Baltimore to find paydirt in the opening 15 minutes.

The Ravens have scored a touchdown in the opening quarter in ten of their 12 games so far this season and at Even money, that is a bet that would have been extremely profitable had you placed it on every game Lamar & Co have played through the 2023 regular season to this date.

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